


One night they never forgot

by Tinamour



Category: Da Vinci's Demons
Genre: Gen, M/M, Pre-Canon, first time writing this pairing and it was fun, for smallfandomsfest, implied past relationship, set before S1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-11-05 23:36:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11023953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinamour/pseuds/Tinamour
Summary: Leo never forgets anything, but Zo fears he might have forgotten him.





	One night they never forgot

**Author's Note:**

> Written for smallfandomfest  
> Prompt by smaragdbird: "They had a drunken fling ages ago but each of them thinks the other doesn't remember so they never bring it up despite both of them wanting to do it again"  
> Thank you to meridianrose for her awesome beta-reading job!

The bottle and the two goblets escaped Leo’s hands and fell on the wooden table, a bit too loudly for Zo who was still recovering from last night. One would have thought he would have grown used to it by now, but either the Florentine life was too much for his liver, or that fucking priest cursing him for his sinful ways a few days ago was finally getting what he wanted. Or he was already getting too old for this shit.

Zo would have loved to say the years had made him wiser but…well…it hadn’t been that many years. Barely one and a half. On the bright side of things, he felt more responsible than when he had first arrived at Florence. Those few first weeks had been a delightful disaster and he still remembered them with a nostalgic smile and a mixed feeling of nausea and joy. He also remembered vividly the few days he had spent at Vinci before that. Which had involved less nausea and more joy.

Those felt different, though it had basically been the same pattern: drinking more than his share, smoking if someone had a pipe, feeling like if he was losing himself and recovering enough of his senses to flirt with the person he had noticed when first entering the tavern. Most of the time, things ended the way he wanted them too – in bed, satisfied and warm. And if the person he was interested in rejected his advances, he just let go. He could satisfy himself, even if he preferred to have a partner for his games. A consenting partner, of course.

The man he had fucked that night in Vinci…Zo had been reluctant to leave the bed at dawn for the first time in years. They had shared one last kiss before Zo squirmed through the window, and the warmth of the man’s lips on his own was still vivid in his mind, despite the fact that they were both too drunk to remember their own names. He could still feel that kiss when he closed his eyes, and that thought had kept him warm for many nights. When Zo remembered something from his flings, it was sex, never kisses. He sometimes wished he could tell that to his one-night partner, how the memory had stayed with Zo even after that night.

And actually, he could have. Many times.

Because the man he had fucked at Vinci was standing before him.

“What are we celebrating?” Zo asked instead.

“Andrea gave me the studio,” Leo answered as he poured the liquor and pushed a glass towards Zo.

“Really? What the fuck are you going to do with this much space?” Zo said as he gestured at the empty room.

“Work, of course. Not everyone is so lucky that they can bask in the sun all day long.”

“I’ll have you know that I work a very prospering trade! Deceiving people will always work, while your art…”

Leo paused half-way through his drink, his eyes focused on Zo from above the rim of the glass, waiting for him to finish his sentence.

“Your art is wonderful and everyone who doesn’t see it is a prick and I’ll gladly fight them.”

Leo giggled and downed his glass. Zo felt relieved and poured himself another drink.

Leo must remember the night, though. Leo never forgot anything. Except birthday dates and payments, of fucking course. Or maybe Zo hadn’t been that great a fuck as he liked to flatter himself. A face amongst others, nothing worth remembering. But what bugged Zo most was that he knew that if Leo had suggested taking their friendship into something more physical, Zo wouldn’t have thought twice before accepting. And he would have thrown himself into the moment as if it was the first time, and pray it was as good, if not better, than what he recalled.

He tossed the thought aside with a shrug. He had Leo’s friendship. And that was a good thing.

//////

That night, Leo gazed with barely concealed fascination as Zo snored by his side. It still amazed him how what had started as a brawl for stolen coins had evolved into a meaningful friendship. Leo was grateful for Zo’s cheerfulness, his ability to make him laugh and the fact that he was always up for any scheme Leo might have come up with.

They could have had more, though, and Leo sometimes felt sad about it.

None of his relationships had ever lasted long. Lust at first sight, Andrea called it, and maybe there was nothing more than that. Leo never kept anyone in his bed for more than a week – the record was still held by the twins, who had stayed with him for two months. Leo didn’t want to get attached, he didn’t want his mind to be lost. Longer relationships meant trust, and sharing of secrets and deep thoughts. He bared his body and parts of his mind, but never the dark demons that loomed there.

But he had known Zo for a year, and shared moments and memories and doubts with him and Zo was still here.

Leo didn’t know if his feelings for Zo were truly romantic ones. And he was afraid pushing their friendship into new ground would break it and leave them scarred for the rest of their lives.

His only consolation was an old memory, dating back a few summers.

He had been forced to follow his father back to Vinci. Piero had business there and he wanted Leo to come with him. It was odd enough that Piero wanted his bastard son by his side and Leo had dreaded the journey, fearing some plot from his father. But Andrea had reassured him, telling Leo he could do with a break from his studies and that going back to his roots would surely boost his inspiration and haste his progress.

The tavern was as smoky as he remembered, only this time he was allowed to drink something without being yelled at and hurled out because he was too young or couldn’t pay. People had recognized him and whispered a bit when he had entered the place, and Leo cherished the memory of the expression the bartender had had when he had seen the coin in Leo’s hand.

“Real Florin,” Leo had said as the man bit in the coin. “Given by Lorenzo de Medici himself.”

That was a lie, but the bartender didn’t need to know that.

He gave Leo a mean look as he took the coin and poured his drink without any reverence. The ale had a better taste than what Leo remembered from what they stole with his friends when they were children.

Leo was ten drinks in when the man showed up next to him. Golden-brown skin, dark beard, curly hair and deep eyes that were shining with mischief. Below his low-cut shirt, Leo could see black chest hair and what seemed like strong muscles. It would be lovely to sketch.

He would have introduced himself, but the stranger didn’t ask, and the conversation didn’t go that way. Leo’s offer to sketch him was answered with a suggestive “naked?” and, well, Leo had agreed.

That night had been good. One of the best Leo had had in years. The stranger was gone in the morning, but Leo had hoped he might find him one day. Leo forgot nothing, and especially not that intriguing chest hair and sparkling eyes.

It had been what had struck him first, when he had met Zo. His eyes. Leo never forgot a face, and that one had been in his fantasies for longer than he would have admitted it to himself. But Leo had never asked his friend whether he had ever been to Vinci. Maybe Zo didn’t remember. And Leo was too afraid to ask.

But maybe one day. One day he would gather enough courage to ask because he wouldn’t be afraid of the answer.

For now, Zo was by his side, and that was good.


End file.
